Final position — White delivers mate
Damiano gambit
White wins in 14 moves by checkmate. (Traps 99% win - Damiano gambit - C40 - https://lichess.org/@/MaxMalkov)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | e5 |
| 2. | Nf3 | f6 |
| 3. | Nxe5 | fxe5 |
| 4. | Qh5+ | Ke7 |
| 5. | Qxe5+ | Kf7 |
| 6. | Bc4+ | Kg6 |
| 7. | Qf5+ | Kh6 |
| 8. | h4 | d5 |
| 9. | d3+ | g5 |
| 10. | Qf7 | Bb4+ |
| 11. | c3 | Bxc3+ |
| 12. | bxc3 | Bh3 |
| 13. | Rxh3 | dxc4 |
| 14. | hxg5# |
How the Damiano gambit works
The Damiano gambit is a classic chess opening trap arising from the King's knight opening. In this line White delivers checkmate on move 14, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f6 3.Nxe5 fxe5 4.Qh5+ Ke7 5.Qxe5+ Kf7 6.Bc4+ Kg6 7.Qf5+ Kh6 8.h4 d5 9.d3+ g5 10.Qf7 Bb4+ 11.c3 Bxc3+ 12.bxc3 Bh3 13.Rxh3 dxc4 14.hxg5#. Each move looks reasonable, which is exactly why the trap is so effective over the board — Black walks into it while trying to play "normal" developing moves.
This pattern is well known from master and correspondence play (Traps 99% win - Damiano gambit - C40 - https://lichess.org/@/MaxMalkov). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the Damiano gambit in the Trapsterapp to play it out on a live board, drill it in practice mode, and learn how to avoid it when it's set for you — along with the full library of chess traps and gambits, fully offline.